Welcome to SWEET BEAR CREEK WHIMS BLOG, a place dedicated to all things creative. Stay tuned for news, updates on my latest projects, events, how to's and give-aways!

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Hello my friends, I just wanted to touch base with you since I have not been on here in awhile. I certainly hope that you have had a blessed Christmas. It is hard to imagine that another year has flown by so quickly, seems like the older we get, the quicker it goes too!

Christmas with our two boys was very enjoyable, We did not have a crowd this year so my cooking duties were minimal. We had country ribs, several salads, bread and sweet potatoes, the ribs were done in the crock pot so it was very easy. Spending time together is so precious, it doesn't happen to often anymore that the four of us are together in one place. The most fun we have is watching our little dogs tear into their stocking, what a silly thing! We do make a big deal of stockings, they are just so much fun, and not serious at all. I am sad it is over, but grateful to have had the time. If I do not see another cookie or candy for a long time I will be just fine.

The hardest part of these family visits and get togethers is having to say goodbye, I don't do those too well really. I miss my older son a lot, I do not get to see him much anymore since he lives over 300 miles away, so goodbye was very painful. I usually need a couple days to recover from my heavy heart after seeing him off. A word of advice, if you are thinking about moving away, think twice... separation is way harder than you will ever anticipate it being.

In other news, I have a hard time when January comes and I need to get my after Holiday ideas flowing, what will I create? There are times when I simply have a creative blank! I love making snowmen so much that it is a bit of a disappointment to set them aside. Ideas can't be forced, mostly they just have to pop in my head when they are ready. I think we all run into creative road blocks at times, projects just aren't as fun if they don't have glitter and a carrot nose.

I did finally clear off my table, got out my paper, pencil, rulers and got to drawing an idea I was seeing in my head. What I am after is a doll that will completely sit by herself, she'll be a rag doll with a round head, sculpted and painted features. My aim is to turn her into one of my first patterns, this however will be a process, but I look forward to seeing where this journey will lead me. I will post her here first when she is done.

My goal this coming year is to get my website at least functional, keep my etsy shop stocked, work on my pattern line, do more fun blog giveaways. By next Christmas I want to be more prepared with finished items for sale, do some blog tutorials, and get a newsletter going. This list will grow I'm sure, we'll see if I actually end up with the energy and time needed for all this, now that could be another thing altogether.

As the new year begins I look forward to connecting with all my new online friends, share ideas and just have fun! I really enjoy surfing all the creative blogs, reading the posts and see what wonderful things you are all doing. Thank you for visiting my blog and making my day with your sweet comments. I realize I was not given the gift of writing, so that really makes me appreciate the visits here all the more! There are some bloggers that can make a root canal sound interesting, that as you know is not me!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

I can probably assume that most of you are like me, and you treasure those things made for you by the hands of loved ones and friends the very most!﻿ What we creative types want you all to know, is the assumption that just because we create, means we would not, or should not receive anything handmade, well.... is just completely wrong. Because we create, we appreciate the handmade's much more than store bought, who would not want a gift made with love instead of made in China? Because I create, I appreciate the time, effort and beauty in these things even more, I embrace the unique way art is created by other hands, not just my own.

Here are some things I would love to share that have been handmade for me, things I treasure!

This sweet doll was made by my Mother several years ago for me. This doll is very special to me, she was done after I moved away and a sweet reminder that no matter where I go, I belong to her! She is my favorite doll, done by hands that care for me, on her dress edge is embroidered a saying: Wherever you go ~ Whomever you see ~ Remember ~ that you belong to me.

My Father handmade this super fun board game for me last year! It is a beautiful board, done with the skill my father has for things like this. This is a game called marbles, a four person game and just plain fun! My Dad likes to tinker with wood, and has made so many neat things over the years, you should see his fishing nets! He, just like my Mother creates things with care and they both have a lot of creative skills.

This adorable oil painting was given to me just yesterday by a dear friend of mine, Christine! Is he not the cutest most whimsical Santa? I can just hear him saying ~ HO HO HO! I adore him. Christine is a talented oil painter, photographer and makes the best friend anyone could wish to have! Yep I am lucky!

My Brother made this sweet music box for me many many years ago, it plays a Christmas tune and has inlaid wood pieces on the top. I love this little box, it is special for many reasons to me, the main one being it came from his hands. This guy is very talented, anything he trys, he can just do... he is a perfectionist with his projects like I am and we are all or nothing kind of people! He makes gorgeous archery bows from scratch, they are works of art, he has made knives from scratch, he can sketch wonderful pictures of birds or anything really.

Here is an example of my Mothers beautiful knitting, she knits the most wonderful things! I was the very lucky recipient of this wool purse she knit not too long ago! Knitting is something I admire so very much even though I do not do it myself.

This is a picture that my son Tyler painted for me in school several years back. I love this picture! It was painted and then branches put on somehow to make it dimensional. Now he does not like doing artwork not even one little bit, he did this in a class, and I will never see any painting from him again I can be sure. I am happy to have this one, it speaks to me, there is just something about it, and I could not love it more since it came from his hands. The blue is brighter here than it is in actuality.

Now this little snowman is not handmade, but I have to include it in my favorite things. This was given to me by my dear friend Tanya, she said she just had to get it because there was something about it that was just "ME" and she was right, I love him in his vest, stocking hat, skates and plenty of sparkle!

This is one of my first dolls, I have had many, but this little raggedy is a large part of my childhood memories. She was handmade for me by a lady I have never met, and given to me by my aunt when I was very young, she became my absolute favorite! I loved the Raggedy Ann and Andy stories, I really did believe that Raggedy Ann would get up and dance about at night and come to life, didn't you? She would get up and raid the cupboards and eat peanut butter, I swear I could see a bit by her mouth. I had baby dolls sure, loved them too, but this little raggedy I am most fond of. I am so glad to still have her!

Don't know why I am throwing this one in really, but he does belong in my favorite things list, even though he does come from Costco!! LOL I bought him many years ago, I do love him even though he was mass produced, I am sure there are many out there who have the same one! He is a very large snowman.

I also want to end this post by saying that even though I do not have anything on hand, my oldest son is very talented with his hands too. He is very creative, loves to paint, has dabbled in photography and is talented in computer graphics. I guess many of us in this family really do have a natural creative spirit.

I also want to say that I have a special box in my storage of all the special handmade things the kids have made for me in school, I love them all! I want to thank my friend Tanya for all the wonderful handmade greeting cards you have sent me over these past years, I have enjoyed them immensely. My hubby does not do artwork really, but I still use to this day the wonderful sewing machine cabinet he made for me many years ago!

Make someone's day and give them a gift from your hands, there is nothing more special! I better stop before I end up boring you all to tears!! thanks for taking a peek and stopping by my blog.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Well, Christmas is almost here, I have less and less on my to do list, I feel like I can relax a bit now and enjoy more! I have really enjoyed visiting my fellow bloggers Christmas pictures, thier homes, trees, decorations! I thought I would post a few of my favorite things to share. I have pared way down this year and only brought out a "few" of my favorite things.

This is my tree, we always get a live one, although at times I wish it was fake, but the hubby loves the smell! My tree would not win any beauty contests, there is no rhyme or reason to my decorating. I just put the mish mash of things from past and present, mostly things that mean something to me. The things that mean the most are the little pictures the kids made into ormaments in grade school, the handmade's given with love from little hands, and the hands of my Mother. The little ornaments with names of past pets that have passed away. The ormaments that bring back memories from special people. Every year without fail as I am decorating my tree, a few tears fall, some bittersweet, but all hold a special place in my heart.

I love snowmen and roosters, I can't really say I collect them since only a few ever make the cut to come into my home! They all have to have that special "something." I do not own anything I have made, these are all from other artists. I will show you a few of my top favorites, the one you see here is my all time number 1. This comes from a friend of mine who I left behind when I moved, she does not do them anymore, but she did gorgeous ceramics. This is a very big snowman, he stands at least three feet tall. He stays out all winter long.

Here is yet another snowman from Marie, the same gal that made the first one. He is also large, only a little shorter than the other one! I love him almost as well as the first one.﻿ His wreath will light up if he is plugged in.

This is my mantle, I usually put a snowman picture above, but I did not this year. The two middle guys, a santa and another snowman "can't see him well", are two more items from Marie, the other two snowmen are fellows I puchased at bazaars

What you see here is an "old" ornament I have had almost my entire life, he has been my favorite as long as I can remember, and I am lucky he is still with me. He brings back a lot of memories of younger days, he adorned flocked trees, un-flocked trees and many in between. I lovingly put him out every year﻿ and hope he can hold up for many more! This is the only ornament I have from early days.

Here is another favorite thing I love to do! this is a great idea for all you ladies that have pendant lighting. It is so very festive to take ribbon and christmas balls to adorn your lights. I take and make my bow first, when I tie up the middle I leave a nice sized tail for anchoring. I then add my balls with needle and thread. I tie it on with my ribbon tails. This looks good achored next the light or somewhere in the middle, I have done it both ways.

Here is a view of my three pendants, it adds so much holiday charm!

And last but not least is my kitchen, my absolute favorite room in my home, I doubt I will ever get tired of it! I walk in and immediately it has a calming effect on me. Beyond the glass door is a pantry that I do not know how I ever lived without! If and when I have to move, this will be the hardest thing for me to walk away from. I thank God I have it to enjoy now!

Thank you for letting me share just little bits and pieces of my favorite things! Of course these are only "things", what I treasure most of all, and where my true treasure can be found, are my friends and family, each one precious and priceless beyond measure. The real reason we celebrate Christmas, is not for the good food and gifts, it is the Birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who came to bring us the free gift of salvation and forgivness for all who will accept it.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Here is a sneak peek at my latest project, this will be one of my Pfatt Marketplace items for the month of December. He is my own design, and will also be one of the E-patterns I plan on offering this coming year along with the snowgirl ornie pictured on my blog. I am not sure when my first patterns will be ready, but be assured after the Holidays I will be working on just that!

I am not sure you can call him a snowman, he seems more boyish to me! He is all snuggled in in his felt stocking and wears a stained cheesecloth scarf. I love the fabric I found for the cuff, I found it at Hobby Lobby and for the life of me I cannot remember what they called it, but it is the neatest stuff with all it's loopy texture. He has rusty wire for arms, rusty bells, snowflakes and a cinnamon star. His sweet face is handpainted and finished off with fine glass glitter and his nose is a twistie pod. Everything was pretty much stained for a prim look and sparkled up with mica and glass glitter. His stocking is full of candy cane sticks, berries, pinecones and greenery.

He was so much fun! but when I do these projects, you can only imagine what my craft room looks like, this time of year there is glitter in every form on everything in there!! Not such a bad thing since I LOVE glitter. I do have to finally clean up when I no longer can see my table!

Well my tree is in the house, no decorations YET, but hopefully I will get the motivation to do it. I have collected snowman "not mine ironically" from different artists and will post some pictures soon to share what my favorties are. I enjoy other artists works, and never keep my own, but that is how it goes, guess I figure I can always make some things for myslef, but it never happens.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

When dinner time comes and your thinking to yourself..... what will I make? Maybe we'll just have hot dogs tonight, I say get up, chop a veggy or two and make some soup instead! Soup is easy, and oh so good for you.

I have a Beef Barley soup recipe I made tonight that I want to share with you all, it is hearty, and very tasty. We'll leave this little hot dog alone, he's too cute to eat anyway!

In a skillet, brown the meat, drain off fat. In the soup pot add all chopped veggies, saute for a few minutes in a tbs. or so of oil until they soften a bit. Add ground beef and all other ingredients, bring to a boil then heat on med/low for 1 hr. stirring every now and then . Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Well Christmas is coming at me at break-neck speed, so I am getting what last few projects I can done! Here is a peek at a few of them...

I am excited to finally be finishing this sweet snowman picture. I say finally because he has been staring at me for at least a couple years now, yep you heard that right! I had his face and scarf done, and just moved on to other things, he has been on a stand under my table all this time. I knew one day I would just pick him up and finish him, and so I did! He is handpainted on a canvas, his frame is wood that I handpainted to match. I will put him for sale this month on my Pfatt Marketplace page. He is 11 X 14.

I am terrible with lettering, but I found a new use for my Cricut, I simply cut out the letters on cardstock, took my pencil and traced around and painted them! I do love my cricut, it has so many uses.

Tole painting like this is something I really like to do, but I have so many "likes" that I can't stay with one type of creating for long, so I go back and forth with what I do. After working on him, it reminds me of how much I enjoy it though, I will be looking to do more projects with tole painting on them soon since I have the bug again.

It is so hard for me to do just one thing, I simply can't do it, there are way too many ways to create, and I must do them all! Finding the time to fit all of them in is the problem. If it interests me, there is nothing off limits. Is it possible to have crafting ADD? One thing that has always been consistent is my love for my paints and paint brushes, I almost always use painting in my projects to some extent. I have an embarrassingly huge supply of brushes and paints, I never want to be caught without one or the other, it would be an emergency ya know. All this creating and supply buying is cheap mental therapy, simply priceless...

Here a couple of projects I recently finished, I thought I would at least share them even though they are already sold and have homes.

As you can see, they are similar to some I had done recently with some slight differences.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Be sure to check out this sweet blog giveaway from Pam at Antique or Not. This ends Dec. 10th, CLICK HERE to enter into her 300th post giveaway!

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone, they just seem to be coming and going faster and faster, is there any way to slow this down? We ate, then ate some more, had to roll home, but a good time was had by all. Good food, family, friends and a nice visit! We spent the day in town to shop yesterday, it truly was a zoo of people, wears me out, but I always have a good time dinging around with the hubby, and we did accomplish a few things!

I "should" be decorating, making Christmas cards, figuring out dinner, and my shopping list, making a few more goodies to sell, make a few gifts of my own..... BUT I think I need dynamite right now to get me moving, at least if feels that way. Do you ever have so much piling up, that the thought of it literally renders you useless, and you therefore get nothing done? I wish you all more productivity than seems to be happening here right now! Have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday.

Monday, November 21, 2011

I want to thank all here who are new followers, and those who entered this giveaway! You have all made this so much fun. I enjoyed reading all your posts about what you love most during the Holidays. I appreciate having a connection with such wonderful and creative people through this thing called blogging! This contest exposed me to so many wonderful blogs I did not even know were out there! I will definitely be doing more giveaways in the future so stay tuned.... Have a blessed Thanksgiving

Saturday, November 19, 2011

We've all heard the phrase "The Eyes Are The Windows To The Soul" This wonderful barn near where I live, has haunting, tired eyes that have seen better days, stories to tell if only he could, he has an old soul! This is a picture I took last winter, this barn is one of my favorites in the area, it may sound silly, but it speaks to me. I love this barn, I just can't explain my affection for it, he has a face, can you see it? He sags from having to stand at attention for so many years, he has seen so many things, I imagine and wonder what they might be. I can almost see a faint smile under his eyes. I drive by him regularly and "feel" him looking at me. I am very sad because you can see he does not have many more days left, they are coming to an end. I am grateful I have some pictures of this piece of history. This picture came to mind today since in the past couple days we must have gotten over a foot of snow, and it keeps on falling. It is a winter wonderland out there! This is an early arrival for all this snow.

My crafty news is really pretty boring, I have no new things to show and tell simply because I am trying to get my special orders done. I am almost there! This is my favorite time of year for crafting since snowmen and winter things are my favorite to create. I also get frustrated this time of year, so many ideas and plans, but not enough time ultimately to do them.

Only a few days left until I draw the winner for the giveaway! I think I will give the first place draw the choice between prize one or two and do it that way. I wish you all a wonderful Saturday!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Good morning ~ I am now looking out the window at a frosty ground, COLD and overcast, that can only mean one thing....SNOW! I know many wish for it not to arrive, but not me, I enjoy it immensely. It helps that I live in an area that is always ready for it, so there are no "snow days" here. So I say... let it snow!

I have already stuffed 5 heads and one body for some orders this morning and I am ready for that Coffee! I do hope it makes me do things faster, and of course with more energy, BUT I am hoping to leave out the stupid! :-) I think I am like most and look forward to my nice cup of coffee in the morning more than anything. I do work in a coffee shop three mornings a week, so I am of the strong belief that Coffee DOES makes the world go round, and no I don't mean Folgers! I guess I would have to add Glitter to that, awww, now the world is spinning perfectly! I do not recommend coffee and glitter together however, I draw the line at sparkly coffee.

I would love suggestions if anyone has any on what type of tutorials you might like to see from me on this blog? Also, I hope that in some small way my artwork inspires you to be creative, try new things, or sparks a desire to jump in and see if perhaps there is a creative talent within you just waiting to be discovered! I have no secrets here, so if I can help, email me. Never assume you can't, try new things, practice, see what works, the worst that can happen is you get a good laugh and have to toss it in the garbage.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Carol Stuck of Buttermilk Creek Farm is the winner of one of the trim your tree OFG team ornament giveaways! She wins my old world one-of-a-kind Santa AND several others from the team members. I have just finished packing him up and tomorrow he will be on his way to Carol's house! Congrats Carol on winning this fun giveaway. When I enclosed my thank you note, it had not dawned on me who you were, I invited you to enter my giveaway here lol , funny since you are already entered and we are both advertising each others giveaways. It's a small "blog world isn't it"

A sweet snowgirl ornie I whipped up over the weekend!

This little girl just makes my heart melt! I made her as a gift, but after seeing how she turned out, I do think I need to make more of these to sell, what do you think? No, she isn't a pattern, just made it up as I went. She has a hand painted face, grunged up sock for her hat and I grungied "is that a word?" up some feathers that were otherwise white to take that new look away, we could not have that now could we??? She is bigger than my hand, so a pretty large ornament.

A little secret of mine I will tell you, I really want to design patterns to sell, after all I have been making up my own for years, BUT I just have not figured all this PDF stuff out,! That nagging little voice in my head sometimes makes me doubt my abilities, I know, we should NOT listen to those voices, NO SIREEE. I may be getting closer than ever to finally being brave enough to venture there, I do have ideas to offer, it is funny how it took this long for it to dawn on me, a light went on one day and I said to myself, "I could do this!" so we'll see what this coming year brings! I guess it's not a secret now huh?

The words "grungy and prim" brings to mind how many years ago as I crafted, the world was saying.... all seams must be perfect, hems turned under, material pressed, everything neat and pristine. You remember the days don't you, before we said that Prim was okay? I went along, pressing, turning and all the rest, but was never completely happy with my projects, I mean they were okay, but I just had not found PRIM YET... In my heart I knew I loved antiques, old houses, time-worn and well loved items, but the crafting community wanted perfect, I however wanted imperfect. I did not want to worry about making it all "perfect", so you can imagine how happy I was to finally find where I belong!!

Primitive artwork is embraced now completely. Primitive, whimsical with a vintage flair is truly my hearts desire, I am finally at home with my creating. I am most satisfied with my creations after they have been aged and made to have that imperfect charm. I must say however, I am not an extreme prim artist, my things are lightly primed and yes hopefully you will agree too... pretty. I think when we stop worrying about all the so called rules, and do what's in our hearts, then we can clearly see who we are as artists.

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Let me leave you with a verse...

Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible.

Tomorrow starts the online Old Fashioned Christmas craft show, I am working to get my items ready to post tomorrow, be sure to check out all the blogs who are participating.

So far the response to the giveaway has been great! Thank you to all my new followers... I know that many of you also have giveaways going on right now, just as soon as things calm down in the next couple of days or so "I am so busy", I will go on, visit your blogs, and enter YOUR giveaways AND post them here!!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

These dolls will be for sale November 10th on Pfatt Marketplace!
See my link here on the side-bar.
You can also see more photos of these girls on my Pfatt-November link on the top of this blog! Be sure to visit pfatt marketplace to see ALL the mind-blowing talent there and the artwork they offer.http://www.pfattmarketplace.com/

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Here is a peek at my gingerbread dolls! They will be posted in full view soon, sometimes no matter how hard I try, the pictures just don't turn out to my liking. This one wasn't too bad, but tomorrow it will be another photo shoot session for sure.

The doll on the left will be for sale, and the girl on the right will be my blog give away!! I am just finishing up a snow-girls as well. Stay tuned, the give away starts on the 8th!

Check out my first blog tutorial, click on the tutorial link at the top of the page. My tutorial is on making cinnamon cut outs for craft projects.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Now I am just positive that this is what we'll all be looking like right before Thanksgiving! refrigerator looking well, pretty much like that right??? Ha, I don't think so.... what a picture, she smiles in pride at her fully stocked fridge, neat dress and of course high heels for cooking all that food, I mean what else would one wear to cook in all day? I got a kick out of this picture and thought you might too, get us all in the mood for Thanksgiving day feast.

I am excited, soon I will be posting my blog give away, it is just the cutest gingerbread doll, you can almost smell the cinnamon and sugar coming off her! I will have one for the blog and hopefully a couple more to sell. Stay tuned, she'll be here very very soon...

I can just smell the snow in the air here, it is coming soon. I am a fan of snow, love the beauty of fresh clean fallen snow, a winter wonderland. I love snowmen too, so that really gets me in the mood to pull all my snowmen out from there long summer's hibernation. I keep my snowmen out almost all winter long, and am sad when they go back into storage. Well, it is off to paint, stuff and create!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

These are the thought provoking words I came upon today:
IT'S EASY TO FORGET WHAT'S IMPORTANT..... SO DON'T!

It really IS easy to get caught up in the petty everyday things of life, worry about worrying, can't we all do it? When circumstances are at thier worst, look close, there will be some flicker of light even in the darkest of places. It's a tragedy when it has to take cancer, or a death to finally get this. With our attitudes we can navigate our destiny down a road that is happy, grateful and positive in spite of all, we all CHOOSE what road we go down... Choose wisely my friends.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Here is my newly finished tubby snowman! he is a cutie patootie! Does the words Weight Watchers come to mind here? LOL he is so fat!! I do think he has over indulged in a few snacks too many.

His body was constucted from a Country Friends pattern, I then sculpted my own ooak head, so technically I cannot say this is a ooak piece, only the head is my original. The rest of course is handcrafted by me and my interpretation of Country Friends wonderful snowman pattern. I am at odds with this one, I am torn because I need to get my item for PFATT in Nov. done, so am not sure if I will save it for then, or list on ETsy now??? If I list now, I had better get myself in gear and get another one done by the 7th, am wondering if that is possible at this point, sigh.....

Here is the full view of my sad snowman! he is done on an antique spool, and he holds a large snowball. He will be for sale soon....

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Just had to share this adorable thing I found!! who wouldn't love to go to a party and have a cake like this to eat? I thought this was such fun, now to actually do one and have it look half as good may be a challenge, we can dream huh? My guess is they used orange suckers that were dipped in frosting just on one side, then a choc chip in each middle. The mouth is black licorice and the teeth ???? hmmmm well it could be mashmallos cut to look like teeth. Boy, not sure how you get frosting to look like that!

Shortly I will have the full view of my sad snowman AND I have another one almost done I will be sharing here. Shhhhhh, we won't speak too loudly, but my latest snowman really needs a trip or to to Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.... :-)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Well here is my very un-happy primitive snowman, this is a sneak peek, I will post the rest of him later when he is completely finished. I could wait, but I get way too excited to share! He is a OOAK. There is major boo-boo face going on here, I know you Mother's have seen this look before!

You probably are wondering what posessed me to sculpt such a sad snowman, it is funny when you sculpt, sometimes you sculpt your mood! On this day, I had my clay and I started in, and I thought to myself, why does everyone of these snowman and holiday charactors have to be cute and smiley???, out of rebellion and probably a sad mood myself, this little guy was born.

I will let you decide why you think he is so sad, there could be a host of reasons, my hubby looked at him and sad, well of course he's sad, look at his nose!! LOL I wish the picture showed it but he has a tear running down his right eye. I used two applications of Crystal Laquer and it worked great!

In other news, I just photographed my first tutorial, I will post it here when I get the pictures edited. I made a new batch of my cinnamon buttons and documented the process for my blog. I have no idea how these things work so I am winging it so to speak. The weather here feels cold, kind of dreary today, makes you feel a bit like the snowman here. I may need to soak in a hot tub tonight, now that sounds wonderful...